Where Toph Dislikes Suki and Zuko is Helpful
by freckles-knows
Summary: Not everyone is happy with Suki's return. One sided Toph/Sokka, hints of one sided Zuko/Katara. Toph/Zuko for friendship.


**A/N: This short little oneshot has been unfinished for over a year. I cannot remember exactly how I originally planned to end it, but I'm happy enough with the result just the same. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Toph sighed as she toed the dirt with her feet. She was very happy that Sokka had returned; much more happy than she would ever let herself show. She was also happy for Katara, who seemed very excited to have her father back. Toph even thought the new guy seemed mildly interesting. She was not, however, happy with the third person Sokka and Zuko had brought back with them.

Suki.

Stupid little Suki, with her stupid non-bending, and her stupid little fans, which she didn't even have with her, so how was she supposed to help?

Toph grunted as she plopped to the floor. She remembered the first, and only other time, Suki had been around. They had been crossing the Serpents Pass. For the first few hours of the journey, she hadn't understood why she found Suki's voice so irritating, her laughter so grating, and the vibrations of her footsteps so utterly aggravating. After those first few hours, it slowly dawned on her that she might be feeling jealousy. After all, she was using her voice to talk to Sokka, her laughter was in response to the constant stream of jokes Sokka kept telling her, and she was walking right next to Sokka.

When they had made camp that night, Toph asked Katara exactly who this Suki was. Katara explained their few night stay on Kyoshi Island, and that made Toph even more aggravated. Sokka had only spent a few days with this girl, yet seemed thoroughly attached to her. On the other hand, Sokka had spent weeks with Toph, yet showed nothing more than slight brotherly feelings for her.

And here they were, a few months later, and nothing had changed. Sokka seemed to still be head over heels for Suki while he hardly seemed to notice Toph existed.

Now, Toph might have been blind, but she wasn't stupid as her parents thought she was. She knew the problem here was simple; she was used to getting what she wanted. Sure, it wasn't always provided by the vast wealth her parents had, but she obtained it one way or another. If she didn't like home, so she ran away and was taught earth bending by badger moles. If she were feeling peckish, her servants would bring her whatever struck her fancy at the moment. If she was bored and lonely in her home, she ran away and joined an underground group of people who participated in earthbending matches, and bested them all easily.

But she couldn't run away from Sokka, bossing him around wouldn't help, and she still thought it was unfair to fight him even if he had gotten better with his sword. This was an unfamiliar problem and she wasn't sure how to face it. All she knew was she had grown quite fond of Sokka over the past few months, and his presence calmed her greatly. Aang and Katara could make her down right psychotic when he wasn't around, with all their talking about feelings, their worries, and blah blah blah…

"You look pretty glum. Or is that just what happens when you're stuck with Aang and Katara for days on end?" Zuko sat next to Toph, popped his back, and lit a small fire in front of them.

Toph inched closer to the fire. "Twinkle-toes and her stuffiness can get pretty annoying in high doses. But judging how high your heart rate was whenever she started talking, I'm guessing you begged to differ." Toph did not care at the moment if her remark stung or shocked Zuko, she was too upset at not being in total control.

"And I'm guessing that your face falling when Suki's feet touched earth has absolutely nothing to do with why you're over here by yourself," Zuko retorted. If his words affected her, she did not show it. Toph often forgot that Zuko's replies could be as blunt as hers.

"Then we're in the same boat, aren't we, Sparky?" Toph spat into the fire and it flared up. "Just don't expect me to be nice to Suki."

"What do you see in Sokka, anyway?"

"Assuming you realize I can't _see_ anything in him," Toph heard the smirk in her voice, "I guess… I guess if I am being completely honest with myself there is a rather large possibility that it is because he is the first boy I've ever met that I wasn't attempting to beat into a pulp. Then there's the fact that he's funny and smart, and oh Oma, I'm sounding like all of those girls I've heard that I always just wanted to punch." She felt Zuko shaking with silent laughter next to her. She casually slid her foot, and a rock jolted into Zuko's backside.

"Hey, hey. No need for that, now. I'm sorry, but I just never expected something like this from you." He sighed, and settled back down away from the offending rock. "But, if it helps, I know how you feel."

"Correction. You think you know how I feel. In reality, this is what I know. Suki and Sokka's heart beats speed up when they're near each other. For some damn reason, mine does when I'm around Sokka. Both yours and Aang's go nut's when Katara's is around. But Katara's… I've only ever known hers to change when someone is in danger, or when she is angry. So, congratulations, Sparky, It might not be why you want it, but you've been making her heart race from the second you showed up here." She patted him on the leg.

"Katara doesn't… She's not…"

"Katara treats Aang like she does me and Sokka. Which, for your information, is like a very nosy and sometimes controlling mother. If there's anything more there, I'd eat Momo." Apparently, Zuko had been holding in a breath, which he let out slowly with a bit of laughter mixed in.

"Well, let me tell you something Toph." She felt him move, and could only assume he was turning to look her in the face, so she turned her head towards where she thought his face would be. It made no difference to her, but she had noticed throughout the years it made people more comfortable. "You're still very young, and shouldn't even be worried about boys yet. Let alone someone older than you like Sokka." She frowned. Zuko seemed like a hypocrite to her, considering there was also a difference between himself and Katara. "At least, that's what the big brother in me wants to say. What it really boils down to is, in just almost no time at all, this is all going to be over one way or another, and the six of us are either going to be hero's or we're going to be…" he faltered.

"When this is all over, we're going to be hero's, and boys are going to be throwing themselves at you left and right. Old ones, young ones, ones even scrawnier than Sokka. You'll have all the time in the world to be a grown up after this. Hell, you might even have time to be a kid again, too." He put his arms around her shoulders, brought her against his chest, and patted her head. "Just promise me that whoever you do pick will be someone who's ass you can't kick in under ten seconds." He laughed his airy laugh again.

"That doesn't leave a lot of options even now," Toph snorted.

"And that," he stood up, "is once again my big brother way of making sure you never have a boyfriend. Goodnight, Toph."

Toph flicked her wrist and a slab of earth came down upon the fire extinguishing it. She admitted to herself that Zuko had made some fine points.

Of course, it did not mean that she had to be any nicer to Suki.

**A/N: So there you have it. No real problem, no real solution, just some character searching for Toph, and some nice big-brother-eqs advice from our dear Zuko.**


End file.
